Page 57 of Milked

He was due to come into work tonight, so I planned to head to the club to try talking to him and see where his head was. Father wasn’t as concerned as I was, but I could see flickers of doubt in his dark eyes.

Father was already at work, getting ready for the evening, as I rushed over there, suddenly desperate to see Ryder and to talk to him, terrified he’d suddenly changed his mind about us. That right there told me how much I wanted him in our lives.

As I drove to the club, Father called me. I put him on speaker to stay hands free.

“Father…”

“He hasn’t shown up for work yet.”

“Is… that unusual?” Of course it was. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called me to tell me as much.

“Yes. Ryder is always punctual.”

“How late is he?”

“Not terribly late, but as I said, it’s unusual. More than unusual.”

“I’m headed to the club. I need to speak with him, but if he’s not there…”

“Can you swing by his apartment? I’m a little worried now, too.”

“Yes.” And it gave me something to do, feeling useful.

“Let me know what’s going on.”

“I will,” I said and hung up.

While I’d been to his apartment before, I had a driver last time, so I couldn’t remember where it was, but I recalled the address. I pulled over and plugged the details into the GPS, then drove off again.

Ten minutes later, I found a parking spot, got out of my car, and rushed to his building. When I reached the door, I pounded on it.

One of his roommates, an older woman, opened it with a small smile on her face. She was pretty, with blond curls and gray eyes, but rather short.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Finn, here to see Ryder.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she frowned. “Are you the reason he won’t come out of his room?” she asked, blocking the way inside. Soon, his other roommate, Luna, I recalled, came to the door to see what was going on. Then another man arrived, who was quite attractive, but not nearly as much as Ryder was.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because something is wrong, and now you’re here. I’m just putting two and two together.”

“He’s the one Ryder’s been seeing, I think. He’s been here before,” Luna said.

Now, theyallnarrowed their eyes at me, and I raised my hands in defense. “I promise you, I haven’t hurt him, if that’s what you think. I’m here because he hasn’t shown up for work, and he’s been ignoring my texts and calls. I don’t know why, though. We’re very worried about him.”

Luna thought about it and nodded. “Let him through. Maybe he can get Ryder out of his room.”

The older woman stepped aside. “Fine, but you better be nice to him.”

“I promise.”

She held out her hand, and I took it after stepping inside. “I’m Emma. This young man here is Atlas. And you’ve already met Luna, apparently.”

“Hello,” I said, brushing past them, not trying to be rude but desperately needing to see Ryder. If I hadn’t been worried before, I was then.

I stood in front of his bedroom door and turned the knob. Locked.

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